Video: 'Black Saturday, Nuclear War on Autopilot | The Cuban Missile Crisis | Day 12'

(Saturday, October 27, 1962, around noon EDT, day twelve of the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — U.S. Air Force Maj. Rudolf Anderson Jr. became the first and only combatant fatality of the Cuban Missile Crisis today when his U-2F Dragon Lady (the third CIA U-2A, modified for air-to-air refueling) reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by one of two Soviet-supplied S-75 Dvina (NATO designation SA-2 Guideline) surface-to-air missiles that were fired at his aircraft high over Banes, Cuba. Continue reading American U-2 pilot shot down over Cuba by Soviet surface-to-air missile in only combatant fatality of Cuban Missile Crisis 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 27 1962) →

Video: 'CUBA - ROCKET PHOTO'S SHOWN TO UNITED NATIONS - SOUND'

(Thursday, October 25, 1962, evening EST; day ten of the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — In a dramatic confrontation today before the United Nations Security Council in New York City, U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II demanded that Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin confirm or deny the existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba. Continue reading U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson dares Russian ambassador to deny existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 25 1962) →

Video: 'Killer Submarines Sneaking Through the Blockade | The Cuban Missile Crisis | Day 09'

(Wednesday, October 24, 1962, 10:00 a.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. in Moscow Standard Time; during the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — The U.S. Navy “quarantine” against Soviet ships headed to Cuba as ordered by President John F. Kennedy went into effect this morning. Continue reading U.S. Navy ‘quarantine’ against Soviet ships headed to Cuba goes into effect during Cuban Missile Crisis 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 24 1962) →

Video: 'Oval Office Address on the Cuban Missile Crisis - John F. Kennedy - Oct. 22, 1962'

(Monday, October 22, 1962, 7:00 p.m. EDT; day seven of the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced tonight in a nationally broadcast address that “unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites” had been established in Cuba by the Soviet Union “to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere.” Continue reading President John F. Kennedy reveals U.S. spy planes have been discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 22 1962) →

Video: 'Shall we wipe Cuba off the Map? | The Cuban Missile Crisis I Day 01' (October 16, 1962 at 0:23)

(Tuesday, October 16, 1962, 8:45 a.m. EDT; during the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — The Cuban Missile Crisis, a confrontation between between the United States and the Soviet Union that is often considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war, began this morning when National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy informed U.S. President John F. Kennedy that a U-2 mission flown over western Cuba two days before had taken photographs of (not yet operational) Soviet nuclear missile sites. Continue reading Cuban Missile Crisis begins as U.S. President John F. Kennedy is informed that reconnaissance photographs reveal the presence of nuclear missile bases in Cuba 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 16 1962) →